Dennis Praet: No lack of belief at Leicester City
There’s no lack of belief at Leicester City and it is there for everyone to see on the pitch, says Dennis Praet.
The Foxes sit second in the Premier League table and are ten points clear of fifth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But there are loads of tests yet to come, including a busy festive period that can so often be the undoing of a dream campaign.
This is where the “belief” factor comes in. Most teams that have been riding high but are lacking in belief implode in December – we’ve seen it happen every season.
Leicester, though, do not belong to that ilk, says summer signing Praet.
"“It’s really nice to be part of this team,” he told LCFC.com.“I think we’re doing incredibly well at the moment, but it’s early on so we will try to keep this momentum we’re in and this level that we are playing at.“In the Premier League, it can change quickly and it’s a long way so it’s really nice to be here with them and with a lovely group where the atmosphere is great.“I think we were really ambitious at the start of the season because we know we had a really good group of good players and so we were aiming to go as high as possible.“Now, we’re in second place and normally there are a lot of big teams here that mostly cover those six places, so it’s difficult to get in between them.“We should just continue this way and then believe in ourselves. That’s important and I think you can see on the pitch now that we already believing in ourselves.”"
The Belgian also spoke in length about how Leicester’s style of play under Brendan Rodgers suits his game perfectly.
"“I’m a good passer.“I can keep the ball well in the team. I can be creative and from that I can also do my defensive work, like a box-to-box player that can take the ball at the back and then play the game.“The style of football was very important for me. It’s a theme that suits my mind – a style of football that wants to play with dominance in the game, create a lot of chances with a lot of possession and that’s what Leicester is at the moment. Of course, that suits me.”"
With heaps of games coming up ahead, we would be able to see a lot more of Praet.
He has only made three league starts so far – five in total – to go with a number of appearances off the bench. Whenever he has played, though, he has looked the part.
He will, however, have to keep waiting for a regular place in the starting XI because at the moment, none of the first-choice midfielders are giving Rodgers a chance to drop either one of them to the bench.
It says a lot about Leicester City when a midfielder of Praet’s calibre has to wait for his chance, doesn’t it? There are a lot of good players for the gaffer to call upon, which will come in handy in the next two or three months.